


No Body

by mithicast



Category: Undertale
Genre: Body Horror, Gasterblaster AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 00:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5143178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mithicast/pseuds/mithicast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One reset too many takes its toll on Sans, his friends, and the remainder of their timeline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> AU concept by magolorssoul.  
> Inspired by animation from 30hotdogs and voice acting from sushinfood.  
> Last but not least, credit for endless encouragement and a lot of plot development goes to my amazing girlfriend, bedsafely.  
> Thanks, everyone!

Human determination was nothing to scoff at.

It was all Sans could do to hold the human in place, tether their soul to one spot where they’d be unable to move much, let alone get out their knife for the next inevitable slice. Waiting out his turn had seemed like a good idea -- the only one, really, since any other option would give the kid a chance to dust him -- but strong as his magic was, he could feel an unusual strain. Little creaks and rattles in his joints as his limbs protested and even the bones in his skull seemed ready to split apart.

... _that_ was new.

And he had no time to think it through; the human just kept slamming against the barrier he’d put up, the only thing standing between him and a knife in his ribcage. Again and again. And again.

And again.

That was human determination for you. Even their children could be terrifying.

The bones around his left eye weren’t just twitching anymore; he felt them starting to heat up. Something was wrong, he was losing his grip on the power and it was taking too much of him, and maybe he could have prevented this, trained harder, disciplined himself more, strengthened his body the way Papyrus had always pushed him to, but it had been so long since anything in his life had surprised him. He'd always had a feeling that he’d been through all the outcomes, but this--

A sharp snap of something in his head finally giving out under the pressure threw him back into the present, but the momentary distraction was all they needed. As always, Sans felt the burn of the blade against his chest and sunk to the ground, the sweetish taste of ketchup flooding his mouth and spilling out. He got back up, as always, ready to play it off like he wasn’t about to stagger out of the room and die standing with his brother’s name between his teeth.

Except this time, something was different. He had gone blind in one eye, and with the other he could just see a bluish light radiating from the dead socket, strong enough to paint the human an even sicklier shade than usual.

“He-hey….” he rasped. “Kid. What did you--”

The room melted away as the human marched forward, no longer interested now that he was crumbling to dust.

“Do to… me?”

Sans knew this place. The stale air, the self-perpetuating whirlwind of garbage, the carpet he could practically sink into on the bad days. He was home, in his own room, in Snowdin. The lack of clattering downstairs meant Papyrus was out, which was fine. That was normal. Waking up alone in the house felt right, like following a script. There was time before his first shift, which usually meant sneaking a nap or having a bite at Grillby’s, but today he thought he might give everything a rain check. He sat up and immediately regretted it.

His head was pounding so hard it was nearly audible, and his left eye...

No, he could see out of it now, but only flashes of vision, distorted and telescoping outward and stained with that same blue, everything blue and swimming in a way that would have given him nausea of he’d had the stomach for it. And accompanying it, another sharp stab of pain. “Ahh… damn it,” he gasped, dragging himself to his feet and fumbling to grab the bedpost, the dresser, anything to hold him up. Help. He needed… someone needed to help him. Someone needed to stop it. Someone strong, someone Papyrus would listen to so he’d stay away.

He didn’t know why Papyrus needed to stay away, it was just urgent that he did.

He couldn’t count on the human behaving this time around, and he wouldn’t be able to explain anyway. Alphys was nice but probably not prepared to deal with this, and she rarely answered her phone these days. Undyne was a possibility, but she was more Papyrus’ friend than his and he didn’t have her number...

He was shaking, the pain and adrenaline taking note of every rattle and click. It was happening, and as hard as he tried to hold it in, swallow it down, he had no chance. He might as well have tried to hold back a tsunami. He doubled over, gasping, clutching at his eye socket, phalanges scrabbling against it like he could dig out whatever was wrong with him and throw it across the room. He heard himself groan out loud, and the deep croak that came out terrified him. His throat was changing, his face, he grabbed his hood and dragged it down, no longer thinking rationally but just an endless mental chant of no no no, no no _NO NO NONONOPLEASENO_

It was agony. Bones shifted and mutated, stabbing outward and down, ripping his clothes and forcing him forward into an awkward slouch. A wild animal panic took hold and he tried to run, slamming into furniture and clawing the walls. There was a way out, there was a way to get away from here, a what-do-you-call it, a _thingy_ , he was once brilliant and devoured quantum physics textbooks for fun and was first up for any project he wanted as a schoolbone and now he couldn’t call to mind a simple one-syllable word or why it was suddenly so important.

Anger rose in him, abrupt and without the usual filters to dampen it. He screamed, but it wasn't just a roar that shook the house, there was light, there was heat, and even in this state he could recognize a Gaster blaster but it was

coming

from.

…

Him?

His new vision was difficult to adjust to, everything blue and pulsing in a way it shouldn’t, and he rammed into the wall a few times before successfully barreling out through the new hole in it and flipping himself over the railing on the other side. A fall like that probably should have broken something, maybe even shattered him, but he only felt agitation. His escape was being slowed down yet again. He’d only just gotten himself back up onto his new feet, the elongated ones that lifted him much higher off the ground than he’d like, when the door banged open and a live target was sighted.


	2. Chapter 2

“SANS! I heard a commotion upstairs, and everyone in town is freaking out! What on earth have you--?”

Papyrus wasn’t often afraid, or at least was good at pretending really hard that he wasn’t, but the sudden sight of the bony monstrosity in his house, staring at him, jaw slowly dropping, strangled the rest of his sentence and forced him to take a careful step backward. “Wh--” His voice broke, and he tried again. “What… did you do to… to Sans?”

The creature opened its mouth the rest of the way, letting out a rattling snarl that chilled him, but he held his ground. Sans might still be in the house, and he would never leave his defenseless brother to deal with a beast like this alone. “We… don’t get many skeletons out this way, you see. Did you come from Hotland? Are you… are you lost?”

It wheezed and closed its mouth again for just a moment before letting out a weak syllable that sounded an awful lot like ‘ _puh_ ’. Papyrus frowned, narrowing his eyesockets at the beast, but after some consideration it finally clicked. Sans had shown that flickering blue pupil before, usually when stressed, and his usual low-effort blue jacket and baggy shorts hung off the creature like poorly-chosen decorations. Of course he knew there was only one monster around here lame enough to be seen in such attire.

He made the usual motions associated with gulping and looked up, staring the creature in the face. It -- he -- was massive, with a broad muzzle that looked sort of like a dog’s but less annoying. His eye didn’t just glow blue, it practically burned and left sparking trails of magic as it-- as _he_ \-- moved his head.

“Sans?” He didn’t want to believe it, and his voice nearly broke on that one word, but he kept still. He had to know for sure. The monster hadn’t stopped focusing on him, unblinking stare washing his clothes and body in that eerie blue light, but he hadn’t attacked, either. “I... I know you must still be in there somewhere. If you recognize me, your very great brother Papyrus, give me a sign, or say... something. Anything!”

Sans stepped closer, footfalls crashing heavy on the floor, still making that horrible rattling growl. Papyrus froze, staring back, steeling himself for whatever came next. He wasn't afraid. He was not _afraid_. He was going to see this through, for Sans. Maybe his brother was lazy, and frustrating, and he told bad jokes and ate worse food and drove him crazy sometimes, but he wasn’t some mindless killer. There was affection in him, in the way he was always there for bedtime stories or gave every dish of pasta an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Which was only natural since Papyrus obviously made the finest spaghetti in town, but still. Sans was one of the good ones no matter what shape he was in, and he had no intention of giving up.

“I know you don’t want to do that,” he raised his voice, demanding to be heard over the stomps and growls as Sans advanced on him, “I know you better than that, Sans, you wouldn’t attack me!”

Sans towered over him, so close his overheated breath fluttered his scarf and gave him a good view of the giant maw. Rows of teeth that could easily crush his skull. He held his ground, holding out a shaking glove to touch his snout. “I trust you.”

“ **Pah pye russss**.”

Papyrus stared into the creature’s eyes, relief washing over him. Sans was in there all right, but how? And what could have happened? “Sans?!”

“ **Papyyyrussssss**.”

“SANS!”

There was no mistaking it. There was no way a simple beast could string together his totally heroic name twice in a row, and it was all he could do to keep from throwing his arms around Sans’s neck.

Oh, who was he kidding, of course he was going to do that, and not just because the passing danger had left his knees weak. He didn’t have the first idea of how to explain this, let alone fix it, but his brother was still with him, he was alive, and he was going to need him. He hugged Sans tight, words spilling out before he could stop them. “I knew you were still in there! It’s okay, Sans, it’s going to be okay, I’m right here! ...This is so weird, reaching UP to hug you!”

“ **Papyruss**?”

“Yes, brother?”

“ **Hhhelp… me**.”

“I will, I promise! I… don’t know how yet, but it’s okay! There’s nothing that can stop the great Papyrus once he sets his mind to it, and I _will_ find a way to reverse this!”

Sans sighed, relaxing just a bit, and Papyrus shook his head fondly. “Honestly, I have no idea how you got yourself into this one, but at least it’s a better puzzle than your usual nonsense! Come on, I don’t think we’re going to find the sort of help we need in Snowdin. Onward to Waterfall! Let’s go!”

Papyrus threw the door open and marched out, but a few steps later he realized he was alone. Sans crouched, growling a little and peering out of the tiny doorframe at him. “Oh… I guess that’s going to be a problem, isn’t it? Well, that’s okay, you can stay here! It’s safer that way; if you’re here, then nobody will be… surprised by you,” he ended that sentence as gently as he could. He was going to have to protect Sans, and that meant more than just making sure the wrong monster didn’t see him and overreact. “You’ll love it anyway, lazybones, all you have to do is take the entire day off!”

The noise Sans let out could have been a chuckle or a sob. Papyrus returned, giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder and, as an afterthought, wound his scarf around Sans’s neck. “Just stay here, okay? Please stay here. I’m on the case now, and I won’t rest until we’ve solved this conundrum. Try not to blow anything up; I’ll be back before you know it!”


	3. Chapter 3

For once in his too-long life, Sans found it impossible to fall asleep. His entire skeletal structure had reorganized itself into the most inconvenient mess imaginable, every position was a new lesson in discomfort, and his skull still throbbed. Thinking was about as easy as swimming uphill through molasses, but he had a few solid facts to hold onto. His brother still knew and accepted him. Papyrus had brought him back, and whenever he felt himself slipping, he just focused on the memory of that tight hug, took a whiff of the scarf that only just hung across his shoulders, and made himself remember his promise. He’d be back soon. In the meantime, he was going to have to figure something out because his new form was too bulky for his bed or the couch, and he didn’t have the coordination to open the door to Papyrus’ room.

He’d just about managed to arrange the couch cushions so he could rest his head on them when the door once again banged open (not that he really cared, but seriously, did _none_ of their friends know how to enter a house?) and Papyrus strode in, followed by Undyne, both of them loaded down with bulging packs. Behind them waddled a tiny bundle of coats, hooded jackets, snow pants, boots, and a minimum of three thick sweaters.

“See, I told you it was an emergency!” Papyrus dropped his pack and checked Sans over, ignoring Undyne's indignant squawking about how that wasn't something to sound happy about. “Sans, are you all right? I did what I said! I found help, and now I’m back! Well, actually, I found Undyne, but _she_ found help!”  
“Yeah, and not a second too soon, apparently! Holy… moly, what kind of nerd garbage did you boneheads get yourselves into this time??”

Sans groaned, not liking this at all. Too many people staring at him. Too much input, not enough time to process it.

The bundle behind Undyne finally shucked off a layer or two of gear, and despite her shivering, she knelt down next to Sans with a look of fear he knew too well. He’d had the same expression, probably, so many timelines ago, when he’d first witnessed the raw power of Gaster’s blasters. “O-oh no,” she mumbled, “Wh-why did you… how did it get like this? You… you can, um… you’re still in there? P-Papyrus said… but I couldn’t be sure…”

“ **Alphysss**.”

“Oh... good?” she smiled nervously, not seeming overly concerned about his appearance. Then again, she probably was used to scarier monsters than him. Call it a hunch. She dug through the pack Papyrus had been carrying, pulling out lab equipment. “N-now, I’m just gonna… start with a few… uh. Tests. Nothing weird, okay?”

“ **Uuuugh**.”

“I-I know. But we have to establish…”

She trailed out, looking behind her. Undyne was watching the scene, eyes round as saucers, one hand slightly raised as though ready to summon an energy spear the second anything seemed off. Papyrus shuffled uneasily from one foot to the other, hanging on every word she said. They meant well, but their hovering were making her anxiety ten times worse, and it couldn’t be doing Sans any favors either. He deserved the truth, but not while they had an audience. This was going to be painful enough.

“Hey, um, guys. I was thinking, m-maybe, you two could, uh… get… some food for us?”  
“Wowie, Dr. Alphys, you really ARE the smartest! That’s a great idea! Undyne and I can whip up some spaghetti in no time...”  
“...Well! Actually! I was thinking you guys c-could grab something at… the restaurant? Grillby’s?”

Before the disgusted look could get all the way across Papyrus’ face, Undyne grabbed his arm.

“You got it, boss! But… are you sure… you and Sans are gonna be…?”  
“O-oh, don’t worry about us. Just make sure to get extra, okay? With his new proportions...”  
“Heck yeah! He's HUGE now! And by the time he gets done eating all the cheese fries we’re carting back, he won’t be able to MOVE! Fuahaha! Come on, Papyrus, shake a leg bone!”

The door slammed behind them, cutting Papyrus’s whiny protests short, and Alphys flinched a little. Sans lay still, feeling beaten down by reality yet again, watching her hem and haw as she struggled to pick out words she clearly didn't want to say. “S-so, um… now that we’re alone, I guess… this is as good a time as any to say… that. I. Pr-probably can’t help you.”

She turned more toward him, eyes focused anywhere but on his face. “I-it’s not that I don’t want to, I do! But… I’m not even half the scientist he was.” Sans jerked his head up at that, breath noisily rattling in and out. It had been a long time since anyone had even hinted at remembering the man who spoke in hands, and he was desperate to pick her brain for answers, but she only gave him an awkward, unfocused smile. As if she already knew. “I remember a little. Even though it’s not much… and sometimes it’s really hard to even recall his name...”

She looked so distressed, and even in his state Sans felt like he should reassure her. He lifted one massive… hand? Paw? One of his front appendages, anyway. Alphys, seeing it coming but not understanding, let out a squeak and threw her arms in front of her face. And carefully, so carefully, he tapped a bony claw against her shoulder.

-

_Bony knuckles cuffed her shoulder, but Alphys only ducked her head and murmured an apology. The prestigious Dr. Gaster was exiting the classroom in his usual style -- coat sweeping behind him and hands flourishing to scattered applause, shuffling papers, and a student or two chasing after him to ask questions -- and all she wanted was to pack up her things and get back to her apartment. First to go into her bag was the notebook decorated with “Mrs. W. D. Gaster” and little pink glitter hearts, followed by…_

_This time, the hand only tapped her gently, and its owner offered her a friendly, disarming smile when she made herself look up. “So hey, the deadline for signups is today, y’know. After classes.”_

_“O-oh yeah?” Alphys returned the expression, knowing she was smiling too wide and feeling her face heat up. “Time f-flies when all your free time is going into keeping up with the Royal Scientist himself and his advanced theoretical physics classes... I guess…” That was a lie and she wondered if he knew it. She loved everything she took with Dr. Gaster, and as challenging as his classes were, she could always find time to curl up with a bag of candy and a few new episodes of Weiss Kreuz at the end of the day._

_Sans just kept smiling, not giving any indication either way. “Yeah, it’s pretty brutal, but you seem to be keeping up just fine. Actually,” he grinned wider, “right now, seems you’re my only real competition for top of the class.” Alphys dropped her eyes back to her desk, slowly gathering her writing implements and textbooks one by one. She didn’t like where this was going. He was leading up to her having to leave her room for reasons that weren’t classes with mandatory attendance policies. “Is… is that a fact? I ha-hadn’t really noticed.”_

_“Yeah, and what I’m thinking is, you should definitely put yourself down for it. It can open a whole lot of doors for you, and who knows? Maybe his internship will be more... interesting, this time around.”_

_Everyone knew Sans was Dr. Gaster’s favorite student, even Alphys. They were already working together on a few things, secret two-monster projects that she was already tempted to write fic about, and Sans himself acted as a sort of in-class TA, helping out where needed. If anyone had any idea what they’d be working on, it was him. But as exciting as his offer sounded, there was still so much she’d have to endure. Working closely with classmates she really should have come to know better by now, one on one time with the professor himself, and, of course, the awful group photo. “Oh, I… I don’t know. I mean, besides!” She looked up suddenly, triumphantly, causing Sans to take a quick step back and hold up his hands in playful defense. “I couldn’t do it, be-because! There are only five spots, a-and everyone here is hoping for one, s-so… if I put my name down, an-and I got it, I’d… I could be… getting in the way of someone else’s dreams…”_

_“Well, you do what you gotta do.” Sans jammed his hands back into his pockets and dropped her a wink. “But you’ve got dreams that matter too, else you wouldn’t be here. And It could be fun. Not to mention, trying to get ahead of you is keeping me sharp.” Alphys slowly shouldered her backpack, not meeting his eyes or committing to an answer._

_“Just think about it, that’s all I’m saying.”_

_“Um, okay.”_

_“All right. Peace out.”_

_It took her a couple of false starts, a quick trip to the bathroom, and several mental replays of their conversation, but before the end of the day, the final name on Dr. Gaster’s list went up in nearly indecipherable chicken scratch._


	4. Chapter 4

“How long can it possibly take to make an order of burgers and fries,” Papyrus groaned, leaning an elbow on the table. “The man is literally made of fire!”  
“Yeah, but we ordered, what, five of everything? ...Oh my god, Papyrus, you _have_ to try these onion rings. They’re so awful for me!”  
“Ugh! No! Why would you think that would make me want to taste that greasy mess?”  
“Because the alternative,” Undyne smiled wide, teeth shining, “is a thousand years of snow wrestling!”  
  
Ordinarily, that would have led to a dramatic ‘noooo’ and several of the best noogies Undyne knew how to give, but Papyrus only sighed and rested his chin on his hand. “Maybe another time. Not that having you tackle me out of absolutely nowhere all the time doesn’t sound like a blast.”  
  
“Hey, Papyrus...” she scooted her stool a little closer, bringing the basket of onion rings with her. He pushed them away, but she dragged them back over, and he didn’t press the issue. “I've known you for a long time now, and no matter what happened, you never let the bad stuff get to you. What I'm trying to say is... I’ve never seen you this sad for this long before, and... and I... I FREAKIN' HATE IT! So come on!” She took a swing at his chest piece, knuckles clanging noisily off it. “I know you’re worried about him, but Sans wouldn’t want you to slump around like this! As a matter of fact, I can practically feel it from here! That tender brotherly bond, strong as ever for you! His heart still beats for-- well, okay, I guess neither of you technically have hearts, but YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! You can’t give up! Not when he needs you the most!”  
  
Papyrus sighed, but before he could reply, Undyne leapt to her feet, cackling and summoning a glowing spear. “If you won’t give him some of your strength on your own, then I’m gonna MAKE you! On your feet! Fifty laps, starting NOW!”  
  
Grillby calmly set several bags of takeout on the counter and said nothing about the captain of the Royal Guard chasing his best customer’s brother around the restaurant, both of them making a big enough racket to rile up Snowdin’s entire canine unit and get them chasing the pair in a frothy, howling pack. It was none of his business, and he’d certainly seen stranger things.  
  
Back at the house, Alphys lowered her arms again, slowly, as the scene faded from her mind. And immediately regretted it. Sans was staring at her with an intensity that made her want to jump behind the couch for cover, and his eyes seemed to be giving off sparks, little blue fizzles that landed harmlessly on the rug and made the room smell unpleasantly of ozone. She spoke quickly, hoping to settle him down by realizing it was hopeless to rely on her. “Look, Sans, my research, my skill level… e-everything… I could never touch what he accomplished.” It wasn’t at all how she wanted him to think of her, but it wasn’t far from the truth. She was a fraud, a failure in every possible sense, and it was probably only her title as Royal Scientist that made anyone think she was at all qualified to handle this.  
  
“E-even if I had the schematics… even if I just had some figures... I’d only make everything worse.”  
  
She’d let herself get dragged along, mainly because she found it impossible not to get sucked in when Undyne was all fired up and praising her, but now that she was face to face with the problem all the confidence she tried to have in herself was completely gone.  
  
Sans growled and lowered his head, shaking himself out so the bones clacked and scraped together.  
  
“B-but! I think that… maybe… this situation isn’t so bad? At least you’re, um… formidable now. And your brother still… he really cares about you. All he talked about, th-the whole way here, was how much he wanted to help you. Y-you’re… I guess lucky isn’t the right word. But it… could be worse?”  
  
A long moment passed, Sans staring at Alphys while her eyes darted anywhere else. Somewhere in his mind, the correct wires finally connected, and he seemed to come to a decision. He stood, lifting her by the back of her coat and carrying her upstairs. After a bit of weak protesting, she surrendered and hung from his maw like a wayward puppy.  
  
He set her down in his room and crouched, trying to make space for himself. Alphys looked around, claws twiddling. “O-oh, so… this must be your room, huh?” The silence stretched out painfully as she took in the rumpled sheets, the bare mattress, thegarbage and papers and endlessly whirling plates of untouched spaghetti. “Y-you know, it… looks kinda like mine! Except maybe with fewer anime posters, and I guess not as many comic books, and… and you definitely have more pasta than I do…!”  
  
She could hear herself babbling, feel herself starting to freeze up again. Sans let out a rumbling sigh and bumped her with his muzzle, causing her to stumble-step toward the chest of drawers with an awkward little yelp. She turned back to stare at him, wide-eyed.  
  
“O-oh my god, Sans, I-I-I don’t think we need to take it to your sock drawer! It, it’s really okay, wh-whatever you were going to show me…! I-I believe you!”  
  
“ **Alphyyyys**.”  
  
“S-Sans… come on.”  
  
“ **Aaalphyssss**.”  
  
“We both know… after what I did, y-you can’t trust me. I w-won’t ever be able to g-give you your body back…”

" **Pleeeaaase**."

  
She could feel herself sweating, even in this chilly house in the middle of the underground’s most intolerable snowy region. It was pointless to try, didn’t he understand that? But Sans only nudged her again, bumping her elbow this time, causing her to reach out toward the drawer. Embarrassed warmth flooded her cheeks as she opened it, slowly, one eye half-shut to protect herself from what she was about to find inside, which turned out to be…  
  
A key?  
  
“...”  
  
That was _it_?  
  
“...”  
  
She picked it up and turned it over, hoping for an inscription, an explanation, or even a cheesy joke. Nothing, no indication of where it went or what she’d find on the other side of whatever it unlocked. “Uh… Sans? Where do I… I-I mean. What are you trying to show me?”  
  
Sans tried once or twice to speak, then gave up and carried her back down the stairs. He wanted her to look at something outside, and as she pulled on her hat and the rest of her coats, she tried to decipher what he was saying. One word sounded like ‘side’. The other, ‘machine’. The last thing she wanted to do was step back out into the bitter Snowdin air, but she’d made greater sacrifices for science in the past, and at least his succinct set of directions led her straight to the door matched by the key in her hand. She stepped into the dark room, took a breath, and reached for the lightswitch.  
  
-  
  
 _It was dark in the labs, and Alphys assumed everyone else had already given up for the day. Dr. Gaster’s first assignment had been unlike anything his class had ever seen, Sans included. Magic was egg’s play, of course, but the creature he summoned, the terrifying power he seemed to wield without even trying… that was so far beyond the scope of regular monster ability. And he expected them, after a single demonstration that had temporarily blinded most of the group, to figure it out and recreate it? Alphys had written down page after page of theories on the first day, but so far, nothing had borne out. She tapped her pen to her chin, sighing and muttering to herself. “Okay, so… maybe, all the fancy gestures were just… showmanship. Th-they say that misdirection is the key to… mmm.” Her eyelids were drooping, and she didn’t want to get caught fast asleep and drooling on her notes again, but it had been such a long, unproductive, discouraging day..._  
  
 _“What did the quantum physicist say about their rival?”_  
  
 _Alphys yelped and jumped to her feet, scattering paper and pens all over the floor. Sans was laughing as he stepped into the cool glow of her laptop, but to his credit he unslung his messenger bag and knelt down to help her gather her things. “Oh, man. Sorry about that; I thought up a good one and wanted to try it out while it was still fresh.”_  
  
 _She hesitated, staring at him like he’d grown a second skull.. He might as well have been speaking Japanese for all the sense he was making. “Um… I-I don’t… did you think of a good… theory?”_  
  
 _“You’ve been working too hard again, Al. Come on, I’m proud of this one.” He grinned and offered her her papers back, and she was grateful that he hadn’t looked at them. There were so many doodles in the margins illustrating the different ways she shipped her classmates, and some of the pages actually were fanfiction. “So, what did the quantum physicist say about their rival?”_  
  
 _She shuffled her papers, still trying to get them back into order. “Um, th-they said… I… really respect your ideas and hope t-to work with you in the future?”_  
  
 _Sans was quiet for a moment before laughing and shaking his head. “Nah,” he replied, the lights in his eyesockets twinkling. “They said, ‘let me_ atom _.’”_  
  
 _“Oh… OH!” Alphys laughed too, more out of relief than because this joke was any better than his other ones. Sans was a good guy, but sometimes he really caught people off guard. She had no idea how someone with his build could consistently enter rooms without making a sound, but there was no denying what seemed to happen every other day. She wondered if anyone else had noticed, or if it’d be weird to ask. The silence they lapsed into was more agreeable this time, and for once, she was the one to break it._  
  
 _“So, uh… it’s getting kinda late, right? Are you sure your brother’s okay?”_  
 _“Papyrus? Yeah…” Sans rubbed the back of his neck. “I just got off the phone with him, actually. He can’t sleep without a bedtime story. He’s out like a light now, though.”_  
 _“And you’re sure he’ll be fine by himself? I thought he was kinda--”_  
 _“Yeah, yeah, it’s all good,” he answered, a little impatiently. “He’s good. Anyway, I just stopped by to see if you wanted to brainstorm a little before calling it a night.”_  
 _“Me? Uh, okay, but… why?”_  
 _“Isn’t it obvious?” He gestured around, and she followed his hand with her eyes in confusion. “Every night, everyone calls it quits and goes home around dinnertime, but more often than not, you pull an all-nighter. I would too, except I gotta go home sometime.”_  
 _“...”_  
 _“You’re dedicated, and I’d bet gold you’ve made more headway than you think you have.”_  
 _“Thanks, that… means a lot coming from you, but nothing I’ve tried has worked out.”_  
 _"That’s why I said, maybe two skulls would be better than one. What do you say?”_  
 _“...um… okay?”_  
  
 _Sans produced his own laptop, and as she hurried to separate the embarrassing pages from her actual work, he booted it back up. “Ha-hang on,” she murmured, scribbling out some of the margins. “Let me just… remove some… uh, incorrect calculations. There we go! So, um… where do you want to start?”_  
  
 _“Here, we’ll start with what I have.”  He tapped a few keys, bringing up a document, and Alphys leaned in to start reading before he spoke. It was a lot less stressful than looking at him. “Any quantifiable power -- energy, magic, you name it -- comes from somewhere and goes TO somewhere and costs something to use. Theoretically, no single monster could possibly summon something with that much power. The requirements for that kind of output would be…”_  
 _“A-astronomical.”_  
 _“I was thinking fatal, but yeah, that too.”_  
 _“Meaning… you’re thinking… the power Gaster used came from somewhere else.”_  
 _“It had to. There’s no other way.”_  
 _“That… actually goes claw-in-claw with where I was going! See, I was working my way down a list of the different sorts of energy and how they could be harnessed? And maybe used the way he did? And… the only thing that seems plausible is, um, the output from the core.”_  
 _“So either we’re both right or we’re both wrong.”_  
 _“...let’s try to stay positive.”_  
 _“Heh. All right. Man, if we had some idea of what he was trying to do with that thing, maybe we could reverse engineer some kinda solution for how it’s done. Probably won’t be that easy though, huh?”_  
 _“Heh-heh… m-maybe he’s arming us to take over the underground.”_  
 _“Or the surface.”_  
 _“Oh my god, I could just see it! But first we’d have to shatter the…”_  
  
 _Alphys stopped, staring at the screen without comprehending the words, her jaw dropping. Sans, knowing that look as well as any scientist worth his salt, stopped slouching and grabbed a pen, ready to take notes if she needed him to. “Al? Alphys? Underground to Alphys, you can check in anytime.”_  
 _“I…” Her voice was hushed at first. Could it really be that simple? “I don’t know if this is actually worth anything but… o-okay, all right, you’re right,” she admitted as he made an impatient get-on-with-it gesture. “You know how… for the barrier, I mean, we need the power of seven human souls?”_  
 _“Every baby bone knows THAT. But if you’re going where I think you’re going with this, it’s probably not practical. Even if a blaster can be calibrated to hit with the same force as a human, and that’s a BIG if, you would need--”_  
 _“Seven.”_  
 _“At least.”_  
 _“Look, the barrier itself sits just to the east of the castle, right?. The core, designed and created by Dr. Gaster himself, is right under the capital, where the castle is. And then he also designs these supercharged… energy constructs that can only work near the core?”_  
 _“…”_  
 _“A-am I wrong?”_  
 _“Are you kidding? Keep going!”_  
 _“Sorry! Okay! Ahem. So all of that put together, and then he sets up his internship for this year to accept five students. So, assuming we all manage to figure out how to make and control our own blasters, that’s…”_  
 _“Still only six. I dunno, we might be better off tackling it from another angle.”_  
 _“Sans, you forgot something.”_  
 _“Huh?”_  
 _“Dr. Gaster… when he gave his demonstration… it was kinda hard to see at the end because of all the light, but… he used two.”_  
  
 _Sans was silent for so long that Alphys started to feel self-conscious all over again, but before she could stammer out a decent self-deprecating backpedal, he slammed his palms on the desk and stood up._  
  
 _“Welp, that’s it. Grab your stuff, I’m buying you pizza and beer.”_  
 _“O-oh…! That’s… that’s really nice, and no one’s ever… but I don’t…”_  
 _“Root beer, then. Come on, think of it as a sorry-I-doubted-you dinner.”_  
 _“I, uh…”_  
 _“We can eat at your place, in our PJs.”_  
 _“I'd... really like that.”_


End file.
